Directing user focus in 360 video consumption

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a method including obtaining media content and an identification of a plurality of points of interest in the media content, receiving a request from a user to view the media content, obtaining information about the user, identifying one or more highlight and/or degrade points based on the information about the user, modifying the media content to create highlighted content, the highlighted content being the media content modified to attract attention of the user to the highlight point and drive the attention of the user away from the degrade point, presenting the highlighted content to the user, and monitoring the user&#39;s consumption of the content. Other embodiments are disclosed.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The subject disclosure relates to a system and method for directing userfocus in media content, such as 360 degree video.

BACKGROUND

Some media content is becoming more and more feature rich, such thatusers can easily become overwhelmed. For example, in 360 degree video,users may miss portions that may be of interest to them, merely becausethey were looking the wrong way.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are notnecessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a communications network in accordance with variousaspects described herein.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a system functioning within the communication network ofFIG. 1 in accordance with various aspects described herein.

FIG. 2B depicts an illustrative embodiment of a method in accordancewith various aspects described herein.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a virtualized communication network in accordance withvarious aspects described herein.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of acomputing environment in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of amobile network platform in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of acommunication device in accordance with various aspects describedherein.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an example, non-limiting embodiment of asystem environment in accordance with various aspects described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject disclosure describes, among other things, illustrativeembodiments for directing a user's attention as they consume mediacontent. Other embodiments are described in the subject disclosure.

One or more aspects of the subject disclosure include a method includingobtaining media content and an identification of a plurality of pointsof interest in the media content, receiving a request from a user toview the media content, obtaining information about the user,identifying one or more highlight and/or degrade points based on theinformation about the user, modifying the media content to createhighlighted content, the highlighted content being the media contentmodified to attract attention of the user to the highlight point anddrive the attention of the user away from the degrade point, presentingthe highlighted content to the user, and monitoring the user'sconsumption of the content.

One or more aspects of the subject disclosure include a methodcomprising: obtaining media content; analyzing the media content todiscern a plurality of points of interest in the media content;receiving a request from a user to view the media content; obtaininginformation about the user; identifying one or more highlight points bydetermining which of the points of interest in the media content wouldbe of interest to the user based on the information about the user;creating highlighted content, which is the media content modified todraw attention of the user to the highlight point therein; presentingthe highlighted content to the user; monitoring the user's consumptionof the highlighted content to ascertain which of the points of interestdrew the attention of the user; and updating, the information about theuser and the analysis of the media content based on the points ofinterest that drew the attention of the user.

One or more aspects of the subject disclosure include an apparatus,comprising: a processor and a memory that stores executable instructionsthat, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance ofoperations, including: obtaining media content and an identification ofa plurality of points of interest in the media content; receiving afirst request from a first user to view the media content; obtaininginformation about the first user; identifying a first set of highlightpoints by determining which of the points of interest in the mediacontent would be of interest to the first user based on the firstinformation; creating first highlighted content, which is the mediacontent modified to draw attention of the first user to the first set ofhighlight points therein; receiving a second request from a second userto view the media content; obtaining second information about the seconduser; identifying a second set of highlight points by determining whichof the points of interest in the media content would be of interest tothe second user based on the second information; creating secondhighlighted content, which is the media content modified to drawattention of the second user to the second set of highlight pointstherein; presenting the first highlighted content and the secondhighlighted content to the respective users; tracking the users' linesof sight; and updating the information about the users based on thetracking.

One or more aspects of the subject disclosure include A non-transitory,machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, whenexecuted by a processing system including a processor, facilitateperformance of operations, the operations comprising: obtaining mediacontent and an identification of a plurality of points of interest inthe media content; receiving a request from equipment of a user to viewthe media content; obtaining information about the user; identifying oneor more highlight points and degrade points based on the informationabout the user; creating highlighted content, which is the media contentmodified to attract attention of the user to the highlight points anddrive the attention of the user away from the degrade points; presentingthe highlighted content to the user; tracking a line of sight of theuser; and updating the information based on the tracking the line ofsight.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a block diagram is shown illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of a communications network 100 inaccordance with various aspects described herein. As will be apparentbelow, the communications network 100 may form part of, or may support,certain embodiments of the focus push service described herein. Inparticular, a communications network 125 is presented for providingbroadband access 110 to a plurality of data terminals 114 via accessterminal 112, wireless access 120 to a plurality of mobile devices 124and vehicle 126 via base station or access point 122, voice access 130to a plurality of telephony devices 134, via switching device 132 and/ormedia access 140 to a plurality of audio/video display devices 144 viamedia terminal 142. In addition, communication network 125 is coupled toone or more content sources 175 of audio, video, graphics, text and/orother media. While broadband access 110, wireless access 120, voiceaccess 130 and media access 140 are shown separately, one or more ofthese forms of access can be combined to provide multiple accessservices to a single client device (e.g., mobile devices 124 can receivemedia content via media terminal 142, data terminal 114 can be providedvoice access via switching device 132, and so on).

The communications network 125 includes a plurality of network elements(NE) 150, 152, 154, 156, etc. for facilitating the broadband access 110,wireless access 120, voice access 130, media access 140 and/or thedistribution of content from content sources 175. The communicationsnetwork 125 can include a circuit switched or packet switched network, avoice over Internet protocol (VoIP) network, Internet protocol (IP)network, a cable network, a passive or active optical network, a 4G, 5G,or higher generation wireless access network, WIMAX network,UltraWideband network, personal area network or other wireless accessnetwork, a broadcast satellite network and/or other communicationsnetwork.

In various embodiments, the access terminal 112 can include a digitalsubscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM), cable modem terminationsystem (CMTS), optical line terminal (OLT) and/or other access terminal.The data terminals 114 can include personal computers, laptop computers,netbook computers, tablets or other computing devices along with digitalsubscriber line (DSL) modems, data over coax service interfacespecification (DOCSIS) modems or other cable modems, a wireless modemsuch as a 4G, 5G, or higher generation modem, an optical modem and/orother access devices.

In various embodiments, the base station or access point 122 can includea 4G, 5G, or higher generation base station, an access point thatoperates via an 802.11 standard such as 802.11n, 802.11ac or otherwireless access terminal. The mobile devices 124 can include mobilephones, e-readers, tablets, phablets, wireless modems, and/or othermobile computing devices.

In various embodiments, the switching device 132 can include a privatebranch exchange or central office switch, a media services gateway, VoIPgateway or other gateway device and/or other switching device. Thetelephony devices 134 can include traditional telephones (with orwithout a terminal adapter), VoIP telephones and/or other telephonydevices.

In various embodiments, the media terminal 142 can include a cablehead-end or other TV head-end, a satellite receiver, gateway or othermedia terminal 142. The display devices 144 can include televisions withor without a set top box, personal computers and/or other displaydevices.

In various embodiments, the content sources 175 include broadcasttelevision and radio sources, video on demand platforms and streamingvideo and audio services platforms, one or more content data networks,data servers, web servers and other content servers, and/or othersources of media.

In various embodiments, the communications network 125 can includewired, optical and/or wireless links and the network elements 150, 152,154, 156, etc. can include service switching points, signal transferpoints, service control points, network gateways, media distributionhubs, servers, firewalls, routers, edge devices, switches and othernetwork nodes for routing and controlling communications traffic overwired, optical and wireless links as part of the Internet and otherpublic networks as well as one or more private networks, for managingsubscriber access, for billing and network management and for supportingother network functions.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating an example, non-limitingembodiment of a system 200 functioning within the communication networkof FIG. 1 in accordance with various aspects described herein. A focuspush service 202 of the disclosed embodiments obtains media content,such as from the content source 175 through the communications network125. The focus push service 202 analyzes the content in an effort todetermine where a user's attention should be directed within thecontent. When a user requests the content, the focus push service 202may create and provide highlighted content directing the user toportions of the content that may be of interest to that user, as will bediscussed in greater detail below. The focus push service 202 may obtainthe media content before or after receiving a user request for thecontent. The user may interact with the focus push service 202 through avariety of devices, such as the data terminal 114, the mobile device124, Virtual Reality (VR) headset 204, other equipment, and/or anycombination thereof. For example, the focus push service 202 maycommunicate directly with the VR headset 204, through the communicationsnetwork 125, and/or through the data terminal 114, the mobile device124, other equipment, and/or any combination thereof.

FIG. 2B depicts an illustrative embodiment of a method 220 in accordancewith various aspects described herein. As shown in 222, the focus pushservice 202 obtains media content, such as from the content source 175through the communications network 125. The media content may be 360degree video, three-dimensional video, panoramic video, immersive video,volumetric video, other media content, and/or a combination thereof.

As shown in 224, the focus push service 202 may analyze the mediacontent to discern a plurality of points of interest in the mediacontent. This analysis may include scoring each of the points ofinterest in the media content. For example, the focus push service 202may have monitored previous users' consumption of the media content,tracking their field of view and/or actual gaze, and thereforedetermined where those previous user's looked within the media content.Thus, the scoring may comprise a tally of how often previous users havelooked at a particular point of interest in the media content.

The tally itself can be used to identify further points of interest. Forexample, if users frequently look at the same point, or spot, in themedia content, that point may be identified as a possible point ofinterest. The more often previous users have looked at a particularpoint, the more likely it may be a point of interest for future users.Thus, not only can the tally be used in the scoring of points ofinterest, the tally may also be used to identify points of interest.

The focus push service 202 itself may perform the analysis. In someembodiments, another element performs the analysis and/or identifiespoints of interest in the media content. For example, the content source175 may provide the points of interest along with the media content. Inany case, the identification of the points of interest may evolve asmore users view the media content, as will be discussed in more detailbelow.

As shown in 226, the focus push service 202 may receive or otherwiseobtain a user request for the media content. Such a request may bereceived before or after the focus push service 202 has obtained and/orinitially analyzed the media content. For example, the focus pushservice 202 may obtain access to the media content, but wait for a userrequest to actually analyze it, thereby conserving resources.

As shown in 228, the focus push service 202 may also obtain informationabout the user. This information may include demographic informationabout the user, such as age, gender, etc. This information may includeuser preferences and/or user viewing habits.

As shown in 230, the focus push service 202 may identify one or morehighlight points in the media content. It should be noted that thehighlight points need not be specific points, but rather may be areas orother portions of the media content to which the user's attention isdrawn. In some embodiments, the highlight points may be points ofinterest that are likely to be of interest to the user, based on theanalysis and information about the user. For example, in someembodiments, a point of interest that is viewed by the most previoususers may be considered likely to be of interest to any future users.

In some embodiments, the demographic information about the user may betaken into account. For example, a point of interest that is frequentlyviewed by previous users sharing similar demographics with the user maybe considered likely to be of interest to the user. More specifically,where the user is young male, they may not be interested in points ofinterest viewed by one hundred adult females. Rather, where the user isyoung male, they may be more interested in points of interest viewed bytwenty young males (as opposed to one hundred adult females). Thus, thefocus push service 202 may account for both the initial analysis as wellas specific information about the user in order to determine which ofthe points of interest in the media content would be of interest to aspecific user, thereby identifying the highlight points.

The focus push service 202 may also identify one or more degrade pointsin the media content. It should be noted that the degrade points neednot be specific points, but rather may be areas or other portions of themedia content from which the user's attention is drawn. For example, oneor more of the points of interest may correspond to a subject matterthat conflicts with the information about the user. In some embodiments,points of interest may be inappropriate or uninteresting for certainusers. Those points of interest would not be identified as highlightpoints and may even be identified as degrade points from which theuser's attention may be steered.

User preferences may also be used to supplement, replace, and/oroverride the demographic information and/or other information about theuser. For example, a specific user may be interested in things similarlysituated users may not be. As such, that user can override normaldemographic processing. As another example, user preferences (possiblyin the form of parental controls) may be used to ensure certain usersare not exposed to inappropriate material. In some embodiments, userpreferences may be used to specify topics or subject matter that aspecific user is or is not interested in.

Similarly, a user's actual viewing habits may be used to enhance,update, or even correct the information about a user. For example, auser may specify that they are interested in a specific subject, such asin user preferences. The service 202, or another portion of the system,may notice over time that they tend to not pay much attention to certainpoints of interest highlighted due to matching that specific subject.The service 202 may update the information about the user, such as byrefining the subject further, or applying less weight to the specificsubject in determining which points of interest may be of interest tothe user.

Similarly, in some cases, the service 202 may determine over time that auser tends to pay more attention to certain points of interest, thatwere not otherwise flagged as being points of interest likely to be ofinterest to the user. Here again, the service 202 may update theinformation about the user, such as by applying more weight to aspecific subject in determining which points of interest may be ofinterest to the user.

In one embodiment, points of interest may have been included by thecontent creator and initially received with the content, as shown in222. For example, these interest points can be encoded in a secondchannel either visually or as non-visual metadata. Such metadata canthen be utilized in subsequent steps where the originally created pointsof interest are directly used or modified by the methods describedherein.

As shown in 232, the focus push service 202 may modify the mediacontent, or otherwise create highlighted content to draw the user'sattention to the highlight points and/or away from the degrade points.In some embodiments, the highlighted content may comprise the mediacontent or only a portion thereof. In some embodiments, the highlightedcontent may comprise the media content with the highlight point, or aportion surrounding the highlight point, being presented in a higherresolution than the remainder of the media content. Similarly, in someembodiments, the highlighted content may comprise the media content withthe degrade point, or a portion surrounding the degrade point, beingpresented in a lower resolution than the remainder of the media content.

Other techniques may also be used to direct the user's attention. Forexample, the highlight point, or a portion surrounding the highlightpoint, may be presented brighter than the remainder of the mediacontent. Similarly, degrade point, or a portion surrounding the degradepoint, may be presented dimmer than the remainder of the media content.As another example, the highlight point, or a portion surrounding thehighlight point, may be presented with louder audio content than theremainder of the media content. Similarly, degrade point, or a portionsurrounding the degrade point, may be presented quieter audio contentthan the remainder of the media content. These and/or other techniquesmay be used, such as other environment manipulation, generated audio ortextual signal based on the scene, visual (flash), haptic (wind, touch,temperature, etc.) to guide the user's attention.

As shown in 234, the focus push service 202 then presents thehighlighted content to the user. In some embodiments, the focus pushservice 202 may present the highlighted content to the user's equipmentor device(s). For example, the focus push service 202 may present thehighlighted content to the user's VR headset 204, the data terminal 114,the mobile device 124, other equipment, and/or any combination thereof.That device may then present the highlighted content to the user.

As shown in 236, the focus push service 202 may monitor the user'sconsumption of the media content. In some embodiments, the systemmonitors the position and orientation of the user's VR headset 204. Insome embodiments, the system monitors an actual view through a device.For example, rather than merely monitoring the position and orientationof the user's VR headset 204, the focus push service 202 may monitor theuser's actual line of sight or gaze. More specifically, depending uponthe hardware used, the focus push service 202 may actually monitor theuser's eyes and discern where the user is actually looking, rather thanjust where their head (or VR headset 204) is pointing. This may be done,for example, by detecting reflections from the user's eyes, ormonitoring images of the user's eyes, and determining therefrom whichdirection the user is looking, which may be relative to (but differentfrom) orientation of the user's VR headset 204.

In presenting the highlighted content to the user, the focus pushservice 202 may also enhance the portion of the media content at whichthe user is actually looking, whether or not that portion corresponds tothe highlight (or degrade) points. For example, the portion of the mediacontent at which the user is actually looking may be presented in ahigher resolution, greater brightness, or louder audio, etc. Bypresenting the remainder of the media content at lowerresolution/brightness/audio, for example, the system may conservenetwork bandwidth and/or data usage.

As shown, and discussed above, the focus push service 202 knows where itwants the user to look, for example, and where the user is actuallylooking. To the extent these two correlate, the identification of thepoints of interest, highlight points, and degrade points, as well as theinformation about the user, may be considered accurate. Otherwise, theidentification of the points of interest, highlight points, and degradepoints, as well as the information about the user may be updated,enhanced, or otherwise supplemented, based on where the user is actuallylooking as compared to where the focus push service 202 wants the userto look.

For example, as discussed above, where users actually look may be usedto further identify possible points of interest. Similarly, if userstypically linger at certain points of interest, then those points may begiven more weight when identifying highlight points. On the other hand,if users typically avoid certain points of interest, then those pointsmay be given less weight when identifying highlight points.

All of this analysis may be done specific to the user. For example, asthe user uses the system, the system may continually learn more aboutthat user's true interests, which may then be used to improve selectionof highlight points (and degrade points). This may also be done on thefly. For example, where the focus push service 202 identifies highlightpoints in the media content based on information then known about theuser (or in the absence of such information), the focus push service 202monitors the user's actual consumption on the highlighted content, andmay more accurately identify highlight points in later portions of thatsame media content.

The focus push service 202 may perform the above processes on the sameor different media content for multiple users, such that each userexperience is different. For example, the focus push service 202 maypresent the same media content to two different users with differenthighlight points and/or different degrade points. The focus push service202 may do so simultaneously and/or using the same equipment. Forexample, where two users are utilizing the same terminal 114, possiblywith two separate VR headsets 204, the focus push service 202 maypresent two different versions of the highlighted content to theterminal 114, for distinct presentation through the two VR headsets 204.

In one embodiment, the focus push service 202 may send focus informationback to a content source 175. This content source 175 can then use thisadditional information to optimize encoding of the content and/orinclude some of the created highlight content 232 as part of theoriginal content instead of relying on the focus push service 202 for anadditional processing as described herein, such as modifying the mediacontent, and/or otherwise creating highlighted content.

While for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the respectiveprocesses are shown and described as a series of blocks in FIG. 2B, itis to be understood and appreciated that the claimed subject matter isnot limited by the order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other blocks from what isdepicted and described herein. Moreover, not all illustrated blocks maybe required to implement the methods described herein.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a block diagram 300 is shown illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of a virtualized communication networkin accordance with various aspects described herein. In particular avirtualized communication network is presented that can be used toimplement some or all of the subsystems and functions of communicationnetwork 100, the subsystems and functions of system 200, and method 220presented in FIGS. 1, 2A, and 2B3. For example, the virtualizedcommunication network may form part of, or may support, certainembodiments of the focus push service described herein.

In particular, a cloud networking architecture is shown that leveragescloud technologies and supports rapid innovation and scalability via atransport layer 350, a virtualized network function cloud 325 and/or oneor more cloud computing environments 375. The virtualized networkfunction cloud 325 and/or one or more cloud computing environments 375may perform the above described operations of the focus push service202. In various embodiments, this cloud networking architecture is anopen architecture that leverages application programming interfaces(APIs); reduces complexity from services and operations; supports morenimble business models; and rapidly and seamlessly scales to meetevolving customer requirements including traffic growth, diversity oftraffic types, and diversity of performance and reliabilityexpectations.

In contrast to traditional network elements—which are typicallyintegrated to perform a single function, the virtualized communicationnetwork employs virtual network elements 330, 332, 334, etc. thatperform some or all of the functions of network elements 150, 152, 154,156, etc. For example, the network architecture can provide a substrateof networking capability, often called Network Function VirtualizationInfrastructure (NFVI) or simply infrastructure that is capable of beingdirected with software and Software Defined Networking (SDN) protocolsto perform a broad variety of network functions and services. Thisinfrastructure can include several types of substrates. The most typicaltype of substrate being servers that support Network FunctionVirtualization (NFV), followed by packet forwarding capabilities basedon generic computing resources, with specialized network technologiesbrought to bear when general purpose processors or general purposeintegrated circuit devices offered by merchants (referred to herein asmerchant silicon) are not appropriate. In this case, communicationservices can be implemented as cloud-centric workloads.

As an example, a traditional network element 150 (shown in FIG. 1), suchas an edge router can be implemented via a virtual network element 330composed of NFV software modules, merchant silicon, and associatedcontrollers. The software can be written so that increasing workloadconsumes incremental resources from a common resource pool, and moreoverso that it's elastic: so the resources are only consumed when needed. Ina similar fashion, other network elements such as other routers,switches, edge caches, and middle-boxes are instantiated from the commonresource pool. Such sharing of infrastructure across a broad set of usesmakes planning and growing infrastructure easier to manage.

In an embodiment, the transport layer 350 includes fiber, cable, wiredand/or wireless transport elements, network elements and interfaces toprovide broadband access 110, wireless access 120, voice access 130,media access 140 and/or access to content sources 175 for distributionof content to any or all of the access technologies. In particular, insome cases a network element needs to be positioned at a specific place,and this allows for less sharing of common infrastructure. Other times,the network elements have specific physical layer adapters that cannotbe abstracted or virtualized, and might require special DSP code andanalog front-ends (AFEs) that do not lend themselves to implementationas virtual network elements 330, 332 or 334. These network elements canbe included in transport layer 350.

The virtualized network function cloud 325 interfaces with the transportlayer 350 to provide the virtual network elements 330, 332, 334, etc. toprovide specific NFVs. In particular, the virtualized network functioncloud 325 leverages cloud operations, applications, and architectures tosupport networking workloads. The virtualized network elements 330, 332and 334 can employ network function software that provides either aone-for-one mapping of traditional network element function oralternately some combination of network functions designed for cloudcomputing. For example, virtualized network elements 330, 332 and 334can include route reflectors, domain name system (DNS) servers, anddynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) servers, system architectureevolution (SAE) and/or mobility management entity (MME) gateways,broadband network gateways, IP edge routers for IP-VPN, Ethernet andother services, load balancers, distributers and other network elements.Because these elements don't typically need to forward large amounts oftraffic, their workload can be distributed across a number ofservers—each of which adds a portion of the capability, and overallwhich creates an elastic function with higher availability than itsformer monolithic version. These virtual network elements 330, 332, 334,etc. can be instantiated and managed using an orchestration approachsimilar to those used in cloud compute services.

The cloud computing environments 375 can interface with the virtualizednetwork function cloud 325 via APIs that expose functional capabilitiesof the VNE 330, 332, 334, etc. to provide the flexible and expandedcapabilities to the virtualized network function cloud 325. Inparticular, network workloads may have applications distributed acrossthe virtualized network function cloud 325 and cloud computingenvironment 375 and in the commercial cloud, or might simply orchestrateworkloads supported entirely in NFV infrastructure from these thirdparty locations.

Turning now to FIG. 4, there is illustrated a block diagram of acomputing environment in accordance with various aspects describedherein. In order to provide additional context for various embodimentsof the embodiments described herein, FIG. 4 and the following discussionare intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitablecomputing environment 400 in which the various embodiments of thesubject disclosure can be implemented. In particular, computingenvironment 400 can be used in the implementation of network elements150, 152, 154, 156, access terminal 112, base station or access point122, switching device 132, media terminal 142, and/or virtual networkelements 330, 332, 334, etc. The computing environment 400 can be usedin the implementation of the focus push service 202 and/or user devices.Each of these devices can be implemented via computer-executableinstructions that can run on one or more computers, and/or incombination with other program modules and/or as a combination ofhardware and software.

Generally, program modules comprise routines, programs, components, datastructures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the inventive methods can be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations, comprising single-processor or multiprocessor computersystems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, as well as personalcomputers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, and the like, each of which can beoperatively coupled to one or more associated devices.

As used herein, a processing circuit includes one or more processors aswell as other application specific circuits such as an applicationspecific integrated circuit, digital logic circuit, state machine,programmable gate array or other circuit that processes input signals ordata and that produces output signals or data in response thereto. Itshould be noted that while any functions and features described hereinin association with the operation of a processor could likewise beperformed by a processing circuit.

The illustrated embodiments of the embodiments herein can be alsopracticed in distributed computing environments where certain tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, programmodules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

Computing devices typically comprise a variety of media, which cancomprise computer-readable storage media and/or communications media,which two terms are used herein differently from one another as follows.Computer-readable storage media can be any available storage media thatcan be accessed by the computer and comprises both volatile andnonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example,and not limitation, computer-readable storage media can be implementedin connection with any method or technology for storage of informationsuch as computer-readable instructions, program modules, structured dataor unstructured data.

Computer-readable storage media can comprise, but are not limited to,random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), electricallyerasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM),flash memory or othermemory technology, compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), digitalversatile disk (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devicesor other tangible and/or non-transitory media which can be used to storedesired information. In this regard, the terms “tangible” or“non-transitory” herein as applied to storage, memory orcomputer-readable media, are to be understood to exclude onlypropagating transitory signals per se as modifiers and do not relinquishrights to all standard storage, memory or computer-readable media thatare not only propagating transitory signals per se.

Computer-readable storage media can be accessed by one or more local orremote computing devices, e.g., via access requests, queries or otherdata retrieval protocols, for a variety of operations with respect tothe information stored by the medium.

Communications media typically embody computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other structured or unstructureddata in a data signal such as a modulated data signal, e.g., a carrierwave or other transport mechanism, and comprises any informationdelivery or transport media. The term “modulated data signal” or signalsrefers to a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set orchanged in such a manner as to encode information in one or moresignals. By way of example, and not limitation, communication mediacomprise wired media, such as a wired network or direct-wiredconnection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and otherwireless media.

With reference again to FIG. 4, the example environment can comprise acomputer 402, the computer 402 comprising a processing unit 404, asystem memory 406 and a system bus 408. The system bus 408 couplessystem components including, but not limited to, the system memory 406to the processing unit 404. The processing unit 404 can be any ofvarious commercially available processors. Dual microprocessors andother multiprocessor architectures can also be employed as theprocessing unit 404.

The system bus 408 can be any of several types of bus structure that canfurther interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memorycontroller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety ofcommercially available bus architectures. The system memory 406comprises ROM 410 and RAM 412. A basic input/output system (BIOS) can bestored in a non-volatile memory such as ROM, erasable programmable readonly memory (EPROM), EEPROM, which BIOS contains the basic routines thathelp to transfer information between elements within the computer 402,such as during startup. The RAM 412 can also comprise a high-speed RAMsuch as static RAM for caching data.

The computer 402 further comprises an internal hard disk drive (HDD) 414(e.g., EIDE, SATA), which internal hard disk drive 414 can also beconfigured for external use in a suitable chassis (not shown), amagnetic floppy disk drive (FDD) 416, (e.g., to read from or write to aremovable diskette 418) and an optical disk drive 420, (e.g., reading aCD-ROM disk 422 or, to read from or write to other high capacity opticalmedia such as the DVD). The hard disk drive 414, magnetic disk drive 416and optical disk drive 420 can be connected to the system bus 408 by ahard disk drive interface 424, a magnetic disk drive interface 426 andan optical drive interface 428, respectively. The interface 424 forexternal drive implementations comprises at least one or both ofUniversal Serial Bus (USB) and Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers (IEEE) 1394 interface technologies. Other external driveconnection technologies are within contemplation of the embodimentsdescribed herein.

The drives and their associated computer-readable storage media providenonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executableinstructions, and so forth. For the computer 402, the drives and storagemedia accommodate the storage of any data in a suitable digital format.Although the description of computer-readable storage media above refersto a hard disk drive (HDD), a removable magnetic diskette, and aremovable optical media such as a CD or DVD, it should be appreciated bythose skilled in the art that other types of storage media which arereadable by a computer, such as zip drives, magnetic cassettes, flashmemory cards, cartridges, and the like, can also be used in the exampleoperating environment, and further, that any such storage media cancontain computer-executable instructions for performing the methodsdescribed herein.

A number of program modules can be stored in the drives and RAM 412,comprising an operating system 430, one or more application programs432, other program modules 434 and program data 436. All or portions ofthe operating system, applications, modules, and/or data can also becached in the RAM 412. The systems and methods described herein can beimplemented utilizing various commercially available operating systemsor combinations of operating systems.

A user can enter commands and information into the computer 402 throughone or more wired/wireless input devices, e.g., a keyboard 438 and apointing device, such as a mouse 440. Other input devices (not shown)can comprise a microphone, an infrared (IR) remote control, a joystick,a game pad, a stylus pen, touch screen or the like. These and otherinput devices are often connected to the processing unit 404 through aninput device interface 442 that can be coupled to the system bus 408,but can be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, anIEEE 1394 serial port, a game port, a universal serial bus (USB) port,an IR interface, etc.

A monitor 444 or other type of display device can be also connected tothe system bus 408 via an interface, such as a video adapter 446. Itwill also be appreciated that in alternative embodiments, a monitor 444can also be any display device (e.g., another computer having a display,a smart phone, a tablet computer, etc.) for receiving displayinformation associated with computer 402 via any communication means,including via the Internet and cloud-based networks. In addition to themonitor 444, a computer typically comprises other peripheral outputdevices (not shown), such as speakers, printers, etc.

The computer 402 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections via wired and/or wireless communications to one or moreremote computers, such as a remote computer(s) 448. The remotecomputer(s) 448 can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, apersonal computer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainmentappliance, a peer device or other common network node, and typicallycomprises many or all of the elements described relative to the computer402, although, for purposes of brevity, only a memory/storage device 450is illustrated. The logical connections depicted comprise wired/wirelessconnectivity to a local area network (LAN) 452 and/or larger networks,e.g., a wide area network (WAN) 454. Such LAN and WAN networkingenvironments are commonplace in offices and companies, and facilitateenterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all of which canconnect to a global communications network, e.g., the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 402 can beconnected to the local network 452 through a wired and/or wirelesscommunication network interface or adapter 456. The adapter 456 canfacilitate wired or wireless communication to the LAN 452, which canalso comprise a wireless AP disposed thereon for communicating with thewireless adapter 456.

When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 402 can comprisea modem 458 or can be connected to a communications server on the WAN454 or has other means for establishing communications over the WAN 454,such as by way of the Internet. The modem 458, which can be internal orexternal and a wired or wireless device, can be connected to the systembus 408 via the input device interface 442. In a networked environment,program modules depicted relative to the computer 402 or portionsthereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device 450. It willbe appreciated that the network connections shown are example and othermeans of establishing a communications link between the computers can beused.

The computer 402 can be operable to communicate with any wirelessdevices or entities operatively disposed in wireless communication,e.g., a printer, scanner, desktop and/or portable computer, portabledata assistant, communications satellite, any piece of equipment orlocation associated with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk,news stand, restroom), and telephone. This can comprise WirelessFidelity (Wi-Fi) and BLUETOOTH® wireless technologies. Thus, thecommunication can be a predefined structure as with a conventionalnetwork or simply an ad hoc communication between at least two devices.

Wi-Fi can allow connection to the Internet from a couch at home, a bedin a hotel room or a conference room at work, without wires. Wi-Fi is awireless technology similar to that used in a cell phone that enablessuch devices, e.g., computers, to send and receive data indoors and out;anywhere within the range of a base station. Wi-Fi networks use radiotechnologies called IEEE 802.11 (a, b, g, n, ac, ag etc.) to providesecure, reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can beused to connect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wirednetworks (which can use IEEE 802.3 or Ethernet). Wi-Fi networks operatein the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands for example or with productsthat contain both bands (dual band), so the networks can providereal-world performance similar to the basic 10 BaseT wired Ethernetnetworks used in many offices.

Turning now to FIG. 5, an embodiment 500 of a mobile network platform510 is shown that is an example of network elements 150, 152, 154, 156,and/or virtual network elements 330, 332, 334, etc. In one or moreembodiments, the mobile network platform 510 can generate and receivesignals transmitted and received by base stations or access points suchas base station or access point 122. As such, the mobile networkplatform 510 may facilitate communications between the user's devicesand the focus push service 202.

Generally, wireless network platform 510 can comprise components, e.g.,nodes, gateways, interfaces, servers, or disparate platforms, thatfacilitate both packet-switched (PS) (e.g., internet protocol (IP),frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)) and circuit-switched (CS)traffic (e.g., voice and data), as well as control generation fornetworked wireless telecommunication. As a non-limiting example,wireless network platform 510 can be included in telecommunicationscarrier networks, and can be considered carrier-side components asdiscussed elsewhere herein. Mobile network platform 510 comprises CSgateway node(s) 512 which can interface CS traffic received from legacynetworks like telephony network(s) 540 (e.g., public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN), or public land mobile network (PLMN)) or a signalingsystem #7 (SS7) network 570. Circuit switched gateway node(s) 512 canauthorize and authenticate traffic (e.g., voice) arising from suchnetworks. Additionally, CS gateway node(s) 512 can access mobility, orroaming, data generated through SS7 network 570; for instance, mobilitydata stored in a visited location register (VLR), which can reside inmemory 530. Moreover, CS gateway node(s) 512 interfaces CS-based trafficand signaling and PS gateway node(s) 518. As an example, in a 3GPP UMTSnetwork, CS gateway node(s) 512 can be realized at least in part ingateway GPRS support node(s) (GGSN). It should be appreciated thatfunctionality and specific operation of CS gateway node(s) 512, PSgateway node(s) 518, and serving node(s) 516, is provided and dictatedby radio technology(ies) utilized by mobile network platform 510 fortelecommunication.

In addition to receiving and processing CS-switched traffic andsignaling, PS gateway node(s) 518 can authorize and authenticatePS-based data sessions with served mobile devices. Data sessions cancomprise traffic, or content(s), exchanged with networks external to thewireless network platform 510, like wide area network(s) (WANs) 550,enterprise network(s) 570, and service network(s) 580, which can beembodied in local area network(s) (LANs), can also be interfaced withmobile network platform 510 through PS gateway node(s) 518. It is to benoted that WANs 550 and enterprise network(s) 560 can embody, at leastin part, a service network(s) like IP multimedia subsystem (IMS). Basedon radio technology layer(s) available in technology resource(s) 517,packet-switched gateway node(s) 518 can generate packet data protocolcontexts when a data session is established; other data structures thatfacilitate routing of packetized data also can be generated. To thatend, in an aspect, PS gateway node(s) 518 can comprise a tunnelinterface (e.g., tunnel termination gateway (TTG) in 3GPP UMTSnetwork(s) (not shown)) which can facilitate packetized communicationwith disparate wireless network(s), such as Wi-Fi networks.

In embodiment 500, wireless network platform 510 also comprises servingnode(s) 516 that, based upon available radio technology layer(s) withintechnology resource(s) 517, convey the various packetized flows of datastreams received through PS gateway node(s) 518. It is to be noted thatfor technology resource(s) that rely primarily on CS communication,server node(s) can deliver traffic without reliance on PS gatewaynode(s) 518; for example, server node(s) can embody at least in part amobile switching center. As an example, in a 3GPP UMTS network, servingnode(s) 516 can be embodied in serving GPRS support node(s) (SGSN).

For radio technologies that exploit packetized communication, server(s)514 in wireless network platform 510 can execute numerous applicationsthat can generate multiple disparate packetized data streams or flows,and manage (e.g., schedule, queue, format . . . ) such flows. Suchapplication(s) can comprise add-on features to standard services (forexample, provisioning, billing, customer support . . . ) provided bywireless network platform 510. Data streams (e.g., content(s) that arepart of a voice call or data session) can be conveyed to PS gatewaynode(s) 518 for authorization/authentication and initiation of a datasession, and to serving node(s) 516 for communication thereafter. Inaddition to application server, server(s) 514 can comprise utilityserver(s), a utility server can comprise a provisioning server, anoperations and maintenance server, a security server that can implementat least in part a certificate authority and firewalls as well as othersecurity mechanisms, and the like. In an aspect, security server(s)secure communication served through wireless network platform 510 toensure network's operation and data integrity in addition toauthorization and authentication procedures that CS gateway node(s) 512and PS gateway node(s) 518 can enact. Moreover, provisioning server(s)can provision services from external network(s) like networks operatedby a disparate service provider; for instance, WAN 550 or GlobalPositioning System (GPS) network(s) (not shown). Provisioning server(s)can also provision coverage through networks associated to wirelessnetwork platform 510 (e.g., deployed and operated by the same serviceprovider), such as the distributed antennas networks shown in FIG. 1(s)that enhance wireless service coverage by providing more networkcoverage.

It is to be noted that server(s) 514 can comprise one or more processorsconfigured to confer at least in part the functionality of macrowireless network platform 510. To that end, the one or more processorcan execute code instructions stored in memory 530, for example. It isshould be appreciated that server(s) 514 can comprise a content manager,which operates in substantially the same manner as describedhereinbefore.

In example embodiment 500, memory 530 can store information related tooperation of wireless network platform 510. Other operationalinformation can comprise provisioning information of mobile devicesserved through wireless platform network 510, subscriber databases;application intelligence, pricing schemes, e.g., promotional rates,flat-rate programs, couponing campaigns; technical specification(s)consistent with telecommunication protocols for operation of disparateradio, or wireless, technology layers; and so forth. Memory 530 can alsostore information from at least one of telephony network(s) 540, WAN550, enterprise network(s) 570, or SS7 network 560. In an aspect, memory530 can be, for example, accessed as part of a data store component oras a remotely connected memory store.

In order to provide a context for the various aspects of the disclosedsubject matter, FIG. 5, and the following discussion, are intended toprovide a brief, general description of a suitable environment in whichthe various aspects of the disclosed subject matter can be implemented.While the subject matter has been described above in the general contextof computer-executable instructions of a computer program that runs on acomputer and/or computers, those skilled in the art will recognize thatthe disclosed subject matter also can be implemented in combination withother program modules. Generally, program modules comprise routines,programs, components, data structures, etc. that perform particulartasks and/or implement particular abstract data types.

Turning now to FIG. 6, an illustrative embodiment of a communicationdevice 600 is shown. The communication device 600 can serve as anillustrative embodiment of devices such as data terminals 114, mobiledevices 124, vehicle 126, display devices 144, VR headset 204, or otherclient (or user) devices for communication via either communicationsnetwork 125.

The communication device 600 can comprise a wireline and/or wirelesstransceiver 602 (herein transceiver 602), a user interface (UI) 604, apower supply 614, a location receiver 616, a motion sensor 618, anorientation sensor 620, and a controller 606 for managing operationsthereof. The transceiver 602 can support short-range or long-rangewireless access technologies such as Bluetooth®, ZigBee®, WiFi, DECT, orcellular communication technologies, just to mention a few (Bluetooth®and ZigBee® are trademarks registered by the Bluetooth® Special InterestGroup and the ZigBee® Alliance, respectively). Cellular technologies caninclude, for example, CDMA-1×, UMTS/HSDPA, GSM/GPRS, TDMA/EDGE, EV/DO,WiMAX, SDR, LTE, as well as other next generation wireless communicationtechnologies as they arise. The transceiver 602 can also be adapted tosupport circuit-switched wireline access technologies (such as PSTN),packet-switched wireline access technologies (such as TCP/IP, VoIP,etc.), and combinations thereof.

The UI 604 can include a depressible or touch-sensitive keypad 608 witha navigation mechanism such as a roller ball, a joystick, a mouse, or anavigation disk for manipulating operations of the communication device600. The keypad 608 can be an integral part of a housing assembly of thecommunication device 600 or an independent device operably coupledthereto by a tethered wireline interface (such as a USB cable) or awireless interface supporting for example Bluetooth®. The keypad 608 canrepresent a numeric keypad commonly used by phones, and/or a QWERTYkeypad with alphanumeric keys. The UI 604 can further include a display610 such as monochrome or color LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), OLED(Organic Light Emitting Diode) or other suitable display technology forconveying images to an end user of the communication device 600. In anembodiment where the display 610 is touch-sensitive, a portion or all ofthe keypad 608 can be presented by way of the display 610 withnavigation features.

The display 610 can use touch screen technology to also serve as a userinterface for detecting user input. As a touch screen display, thecommunication device 600 can be adapted to present a user interfacehaving graphical user interface (GUI) elements that can be selected by auser with a touch of a finger. The touch screen display 610 can beequipped with capacitive, resistive or other forms of sensing technologyto detect how much surface area of a user's finger has been placed on aportion of the touch screen display. This sensing information can beused to control the manipulation of the GUI elements or other functionsof the user interface. The display 610 can be an integral part of thehousing assembly of the communication device 600 or an independentdevice communicatively coupled thereto by a tethered wireline interface(such as a cable) or a wireless interface.

The UI 604 can also include an audio system 612 that utilizes audiotechnology for conveying low volume audio (such as audio heard inproximity of a human ear) and high volume audio (such as speakerphonefor hands free operation). The audio system 612 can further include amicrophone for receiving audible signals of an end user. The audiosystem 612 can also be used for voice recognition applications. The UI604 can further include an image sensor 613 such as a charged coupleddevice (CCD) camera for capturing still or moving images.

The power supply 614 can utilize common power management technologiessuch as replaceable and rechargeable batteries, supply regulationtechnologies, and/or charging system technologies for supplying energyto the components of the communication device 600 to facilitatelong-range or short-range portable communications. Alternatively, or incombination, the charging system can utilize external power sources suchas DC power supplied over a physical interface such as a USB port orother suitable tethering technologies.

The location receiver 616 can utilize location technology such as aglobal positioning system (GPS) receiver capable of assisted GPS foridentifying a location of the communication device 600 based on signalsgenerated by a constellation of GPS satellites, which can be used forfacilitating location services such as navigation. The motion sensor 618can utilize motion sensing technology such as an accelerometer, agyroscope, or other suitable motion sensing technology to detect motionof the communication device 600 in three-dimensional space. Theorientation sensor 620 can utilize orientation sensing technology suchas a magnetometer to detect the orientation of the communication device600 (north, south, west, and east, as well as combined orientations indegrees, minutes, or other suitable orientation metrics).

The communication device 600 can use the transceiver 602 to alsodetermine a proximity to a cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth®, or other wirelessaccess points by sensing techniques such as utilizing a received signalstrength indicator (RSSI) and/or signal time of arrival (TOA) or time offlight (TOF) measurements. The controller 606 can utilize computingtechnologies such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP),programmable gate arrays, application specific integrated circuits,and/or a video processor with associated storage memory such as Flash,ROM, RAM, SRAM, DRAM or other storage technologies for executingcomputer instructions, controlling, and processing data supplied by theaforementioned components of the communication device 600.

Other components not shown in FIG. 6 can be used in one or moreembodiments of the subject disclosure. For instance, the communicationdevice 600 can include a slot for adding or removing an identity modulesuch as a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card or Universal IntegratedCircuit Card (UICC). SIM or UICC cards can be used for identifyingsubscriber services, executing programs, storing subscriber data, and soon.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a block diagram is shown illustrating anexample, non-limiting embodiment of system 700 that may include thefocus push service 202 in accordance with various aspects describedherein, showing various functions thereof and interactions therewith. Asdescribed above, the system 700 guides a user to a focus point, or pointof interest.

The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” and so forth, as used in theclaims, unless otherwise clear by context, is for clarity only anddoesn't otherwise indicate or imply any order in time. For instance, “afirst determination,” “a second determination,” and “a thirddetermination,” does not indicate or imply that the first determinationis to be made before the second determination, or vice versa, etc.

In the subject specification, terms such as “store,” “storage,” “datastore,” data storage,” “database,” and substantially any otherinformation storage component relevant to operation and functionality ofa component, refer to “memory components,” or entities embodied in a“memory” or components comprising the memory. It will be appreciatedthat the memory components described herein can be either volatilememory or nonvolatile memory, or can comprise both volatile andnonvolatile memory, by way of illustration, and not limitation, volatilememory, non-volatile memory, disk storage, and memory storage. Further,nonvolatile memory can be included in read only memory (ROM),programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory cancomprise random access memory (RAM), which acts as external cachememory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available inmany forms such as synchronous RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM),synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhancedSDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM).Additionally, the disclosed memory components of systems or methodsherein are intended to comprise, without being limited to comprising,these and any other suitable types of memory.

Moreover, it will be noted that the disclosed subject matter can bepracticed with other computer system configurations, comprisingsingle-processor or multiprocessor computer systems, mini-computingdevices, mainframe computers, as well as personal computers, hand-heldcomputing devices (e.g., PDA, phone, smartphone, watch, tabletcomputers, netbook computers, etc.), microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer or industrial electronics, and the like. Theillustrated aspects can also be practiced in distributed computingenvironments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices thatare linked through a communications network; however, some if not allaspects of the subject disclosure can be practiced on stand-alonecomputers. In a distributed computing environment, program modules canbe located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

Some of the embodiments described herein can also employ artificialintelligence (AI) to facilitate automating one or more featuresdescribed herein. The embodiments (e.g., in connection withautomatically identifying acquired cell sites that provide a maximumvalue/benefit after addition to an existing communication network) canemploy various AI-based schemes for carrying out various embodimentsthereof. Moreover, the classifier can be employed to determine a rankingor priority of each cell site of the acquired network. A classifier is afunction that maps an input attribute vector, x=(x1, x2, x3, x4, . . . ,xn), to a confidence that the input belongs to a class, that is,f(x)=confidence (class). Such classification can employ a probabilisticand/or statistical-based analysis (e.g., factoring into the analysisutilities and costs) to prognose or infer an action that a user desiresto be automatically performed. A support vector machine (SVM) is anexample of a classifier that can be employed. The SVM operates byfinding a hypersurface in the space of possible inputs, which thehypersurface attempts to split the triggering criteria from thenon-triggering events. Intuitively, this makes the classificationcorrect for testing data that is near, but not identical to trainingdata. Other directed and undirected model classification approachescomprise, e.g., naïve Bayes, Bayesian networks, decision trees, neuralnetworks, fuzzy logic models, and probabilistic classification modelsproviding different patterns of independence can be employed.Classification as used herein also is inclusive of statisticalregression that is utilized to develop models of priority.

As will be readily appreciated, one or more of the embodiments canemploy classifiers that are explicitly trained (e.g., via a generictraining data) as well as implicitly trained (e.g., via observing UEbehavior, operator preferences, historical information, receivingextrinsic information). For example, SVMs can be configured via alearning or training phase within a classifier constructor and featureselection module. Thus, the classifier(s) can be used to automaticallylearn and perform a number of functions, including but not limited todetermining according to predetermined criteria which of the acquiredcell sites will benefit a maximum number of subscribers and/or which ofthe acquired cell sites will add minimum value to the existingcommunication network coverage, etc. In one or more embodiments,information regarding use of services can be generated includingservices being accessed, media consumption history, user preferences,and so forth. This information can be obtained by various methodsincluding user input, detecting types of communications (e.g., videocontent vs. audio content), analysis of content streams, sampling, andso forth. The generating, obtaining and/or monitoring of thisinformation can be responsive to an authorization provided by the user.In one or more embodiments, an analysis of data can be subject toauthorization from user(s) associated with the data, such as an opt-in,an opt-out, acknowledgement requirements, notifications, selectiveauthorization based on types of data, and so forth.

As used in some contexts in this application, in some embodiments, theterms “component,” “system” and the like are intended to refer to, orcomprise, a computer-related entity or an entity related to anoperational apparatus with one or more specific functionalities, whereinthe entity can be either hardware, a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or software in execution. As an example, a componentmay be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, aprocessor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution,computer-executable instructions, a program, and/or a computer. By wayof illustration and not limitation, both an application running on aserver and the server can be a component. One or more components mayreside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component maybe localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or morecomputers. In addition, these components can execute from variouscomputer readable media having various data structures stored thereon.The components may communicate via local and/or remote processes such asin accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., datafrom one component interacting with another component in a local system,distributed system, and/or across a network such as the Internet withother systems via the signal). As another example, a component can be anapparatus with specific functionality provided by mechanical partsoperated by electric or electronic circuitry, which is operated by asoftware or firmware application executed by a processor, wherein theprocessor can be internal or external to the apparatus and executes atleast a part of the software or firmware application. As yet anotherexample, a component can be an apparatus that provides specificfunctionality through electronic components without mechanical parts,the electronic components can comprise a processor therein to executesoftware or firmware that confers at least in part the functionality ofthe electronic components. While various components have beenillustrated as separate components, it will be appreciated that multiplecomponents can be implemented as a single component, or a singlecomponent can be implemented as multiple components, without departingfrom example embodiments.

Further, the various embodiments can be implemented as a method,apparatus or article of manufacture using standard programming and/orengineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware or anycombination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosedsubject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein isintended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device or computer-readable storage/communicationsmedia. For example, computer readable storage media can include, but arenot limited to, magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk,magnetic strips), optical disks (e.g., compact disk (CD), digitalversatile disk (DVD)), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g.,card, stick, key drive). Of course, those skilled in the art willrecognize many modifications can be made to this configuration withoutdeparting from the scope or spirit of the various embodiments.

In addition, the words “example” and “exemplary” are used herein to meanserving as an instance or illustration. Any embodiment or designdescribed herein as “example” or “exemplary” is not necessarily to beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments ordesigns. Rather, use of the word example or exemplary is intended topresent concepts in a concrete fashion. As used in this application, theterm “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive“or”. That is, unless specified otherwise or clear from context, “Xemploys A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusivepermutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both Aand B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoinginstances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in thisapplication and the appended claims should generally be construed tomean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context tobe directed to a singular form.

Moreover, terms such as “user equipment,” “mobile station,” “mobile,”subscriber station,” “access terminal,” “terminal,” “handset,” “mobiledevice” (and/or terms representing similar terminology) can refer to awireless device utilized by a subscriber or user of a wirelesscommunication service to receive or convey data, control, voice, video,sound, gaming or substantially any data-stream or signaling-stream. Theforegoing terms are utilized interchangeably herein and with referenceto the related drawings.

Furthermore, the terms “user,” “subscriber,” “customer,” “consumer” andthe like are employed interchangeably throughout, unless contextwarrants particular distinctions among the terms. It should beappreciated that such terms can refer to human entities or automatedcomponents supported through artificial intelligence (e.g., a capacityto make inference based, at least, on complex mathematical formalisms),which can provide simulated vision, sound recognition and so forth.

As employed herein, the term “processor” can refer to substantially anycomputing processing unit or device comprising, but not limited tocomprising, single-core processors; single-processors with softwaremultithread execution capability; multi-core processors; multi-coreprocessors with software multithread execution capability; multi-coreprocessors with hardware multithread technology; parallel platforms; andparallel platforms with distributed shared memory. Additionally, aprocessor can refer to an integrated circuit, an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic controller (PLC), acomplex programmable logic device (CPLD), a discrete gate or transistorlogic, discrete hardware components or any combination thereof designedto perform the functions described herein. Processors can exploitnano-scale architectures such as, but not limited to, molecular andquantum-dot based transistors, switches and gates, in order to optimizespace usage or enhance performance of user equipment. A processor canalso be implemented as a combination of computing processing units.

As used herein, terms such as “data storage,” data storage,” “database,”and substantially any other information storage component relevant tooperation and functionality of a component, refer to “memorycomponents,” or entities embodied in a “memory” or components comprisingthe memory. It will be appreciated that the memory components orcomputer-readable storage media, described herein can be either volatilememory or nonvolatile memory or can include both volatile andnonvolatile memory.

What has been described above includes mere examples of variousembodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe everyconceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes ofdescribing these examples, but one of ordinary skill in the art canrecognize that many further combinations and permutations of the presentembodiments are possible. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed and/orclaimed herein are intended to embrace all such alterations,modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope ofthe appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “includes”is used in either the detailed description or the claims, such term isintended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as“comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in aclaim.

In addition, a flow diagram may include a “start” and/or “continue”indication. The “start” and “continue” indications reflect that thesteps presented can optionally be incorporated in or otherwise used inconjunction with other routines. In this context, “start” indicates thebeginning of the first step presented and may be preceded by otheractivities not specifically shown. Further, the “continue” indicationreflects that the steps presented may be performed multiple times and/ormay be succeeded by other activities not specifically shown. Further,while a flow diagram indicates a particular ordering of steps, otherorderings are likewise possible provided that the principles ofcausality are maintained.

As may also be used herein, the term(s) “operably coupled to”, “coupledto”, and/or “coupling” includes direct coupling between items and/orindirect coupling between items via one or more intervening items. Suchitems and intervening items include, but are not limited to, junctions,communication paths, components, circuit elements, circuits, functionalblocks, and/or devices. As an example of indirect coupling, a signalconveyed from a first item to a second item may be modified by one ormore intervening items by modifying the form, nature or format ofinformation in a signal, while one or more elements of the informationin the signal are nevertheless conveyed in a manner than can berecognized by the second item. In a further example of indirectcoupling, an action in a first item can cause a reaction on the seconditem, as a result of actions and/or reactions in one or more interveningitems.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement which achieves thesame or similar purpose may be substituted for the embodiments describedor shown by the subject disclosure. The subject disclosure is intendedto cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, can be used in the subject disclosure.For instance, one or more features from one or more embodiments can becombined with one or more features of one or more other embodiments. Inone or more embodiments, features that are positively recited can alsobe negatively recited and excluded from the embodiment with or withoutreplacement by another structural and/or functional feature. The stepsor functions described with respect to the embodiments of the subjectdisclosure can be performed in any order. The steps or functionsdescribed with respect to the embodiments of the subject disclosure canbe performed alone or in combination with other steps or functions ofthe subject disclosure, as well as from other embodiments or from othersteps that have not been described in the subject disclosure. Further,more than or less than all of the features described with respect to anembodiment can also be utilized.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: obtaining, by a processingsystem having a processor, media content; analyzing, by the processingsystem, the media content to discern a plurality of points of interestin the media content, wherein the analyzing results in scoring each ofthe points of interest in the media content; receiving, by theprocessing system, a request from equipment of a user to view the mediacontent; obtaining, by the processing system, information about theuser; identifying, by the processing system, a highlight point bydetermining which of the points of interest in the media content wouldbe of interest to the user based on the information about the user andthe scoring of each of the points of interest; modifying, by theprocessing system, the media content to create highlighted content, thehighlighted content being the media content modified to draw attentionof the user to the highlight point therein; presenting, by theprocessing system, the highlighted content to the equipment of the user;monitoring, by the processing system, a consumption of the user of thehighlighted content to ascertain which of the points of interest drewthe attention of the user; updating, by the processing system, theinformation about the user based on the points of interest that drew theattention of the user; and updating, by the processing system, thescoring of the points of interest in the media content based on which ofthe points of interest drew the attention of the user.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the media content includes 360 degree video content. 3.The method of claim 2, wherein the modifying the media content to createthe highlighted content includes changing a resolution of a portion ofthe 360 degree video content to focus the attention of the user.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein the changing the resolution comprisesincreasing the resolution of the 360 degree video content proximate tothe highlight point and decreasing the resolution of the 360 degreevideo content distal from the highlight point.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the presenting the highlighted content comprises presenting themedia content to the equipment of the user with a first resolution of afirst portion of the media content being enhanced, wherein the firstportion of the media content corresponds to the highlight point.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the presenting the highlighted contentfurther comprises presenting the media content to the equipment of theuser with a second resolution of a second portion of the media contentbeing enhanced, wherein the second portion of the media contentcorresponds to a line of sight of the user.
 7. The method of claim 6,wherein the line of sight is indicative of where the user is actuallylooking and not dependent on an orientation of the equipment of theuser.
 8. The method of claim 6, the monitoring the consumption of theuser comprises tracking the line of sight of the user, comparing theline of sight of the user with the highlight point, and analyzing aproportion of time the line of sight of the user corresponds with thehighlight point.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the updating thescoring of the points of interest in the media content further comprisesaccounting for the analyzing the proportion of time the line of sight ofthe user corresponds with the highlight point.
 10. The method of claim1, wherein the identifying the highlight point includes identifying atleast one of the points of interest that conflicts with the informationabout the user and selecting, as the highlight point, one of the pointsof interest that does not conflict with the information about the user.11. The method of claim 10, wherein the modifying the media content tocreate the highlighted content includes reducing a resolution of aportion of the media content that corresponds with the at least one ofthe points of interest that conflicts with the information about theuser.
 12. An apparatus, comprising: a processor; and a memory thatstores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor,facilitate performance of operations, comprising: obtaining mediacontent; obtaining an identification of a plurality of points ofinterest in the media content; receiving a first request from firstequipment of a first user to view the media content; obtaining firstinformation about the first user; identifying a first set of highlightpoints by determining which of the points of interest in the mediacontent would be of interest to the first user based on the firstinformation; modifying the media content to create first highlightedcontent, the first highlighted content being the media content modifiedto draw attention of the first user to the first set of highlight pointstherein; receiving a second request from second equipment of a seconduser to view the media content; obtaining second information about thesecond user; identifying a second set of highlight points by determiningwhich of the points of interest in the media content would be ofinterest to the second user based on the second information; modifyingthe media content to create second highlighted content, the secondhighlighted content being the media content modified to draw attentionof the second user to the second set of highlight points therein;presenting the first highlighted content to the first equipment and thesecond highlighted content to the second equipment; tracking a firstline of sight of the first user; updating the first information based onthe tracking the first line of sight; tracking a second line of sight ofthe second user; and updating the second information based on thetracking the second line of sight.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12,wherein the presenting the first highlighted content to the firstequipment and the second highlighted content to the second equipmentcomprises simultaneously presenting the first highlighted content to thefirst equipment and the second highlighted content to the secondequipment.
 14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first highlightedcontent comprises the media content with a first resolution of a firstportion of the media content being enhanced, wherein the first portionof the media content corresponds to the first set of highlight points,wherein the second highlighted content comprises the media content witha second resolution of a second portion of the media content beingenhanced, wherein the second portion of the media content corresponds tothe second set of highlight points, wherein the first resolution and thesecond resolution are the same and are both greater than a thirdresolution of a remaining portion of the media content, and wherein thefirst highlighted content is different from the second highlightedcontent.
 15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the first highlightedcontent comprises the media content with a resolution of a first portionof the media content being degraded, wherein the first portioncorresponds to at least one of the points of interest that conflictswith the first information about the first user.
 16. The apparatus ofclaim 12, wherein the first highlighted content comprises the mediacontent with a first resolution of a first portion of the media contentbeing enhanced, wherein the first portion corresponds to the first setof highlight points, wherein the first highlighted content furthercomprises the media content with a second resolution of a second portionof the media content being degraded, wherein the second portioncorresponds to at least one of the points of interest that conflictswith the first information, wherein the at least one of the points ofinterest that conflicts with the first information is not includedwithin the first set of highlight points, and wherein the at least oneof the points of interest that conflicts with the first information isincluded within the second set of highlight points.
 17. Anon-transitory, machine-readable medium, comprising executableinstructions that, when executed by a processing system including aprocessor, facilitate performance of operations, the operationscomprising: obtaining media content; obtaining an identification of aplurality of points of interest in the media content; receiving arequest from equipment of a user to view the media content; obtaininginformation about the user; identifying a degrade point from the pointsof interest that conflicts with the information about the user;identifying a highlight point based on the information about the user;modifying the media content to create highlighted content, thehighlighted content being the media content modified to attractattention of the user to the highlight point and drive the attention ofthe user away from the degrade point; presenting the highlighted contentto the equipment of the user; tracking a line of sight of the user; andupdating the information based on the tracking the line of sight. 18.The non-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein thepresenting the highlighted content comprises presenting a first portionof the media content at a first resolution, a second portion of themedia content at a second resolution, and a remaining portion of themedia content at a third resolution, wherein the first portion of themedia content corresponds to the highlight point, wherein the secondportion of the media content corresponds to the degrade point, whereinthe first resolution is greater than the third resolution, and whereinthe third resolution is greater than the second resolution.
 19. Thenon-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein thepresenting the highlighted content comprises presenting a first portionof the media content at a first brightness, a second portion of themedia content at a second brightness, and a remaining portion of themedia content at a third brightness, wherein the first portion of themedia content corresponds to the highlight point, wherein the secondportion of the media content corresponds to the degrade point, whereinthe first brightness is greater than the third brightness, and whereinthe third brightness is greater than the second brightness.
 20. Thenon-transitory, machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein thepresenting the highlighted content comprises presenting a first portionof the media content at a first audio volume, a second portion of themedia content at a second audio volume, and a remaining portion of themedia content at a third audio volume, wherein the first portion of themedia content corresponds to the highlight point, wherein the secondportion of the media content corresponds to the degrade point, whereinthe first audio volume is greater than the third audio volume, andwherein the third audio volume is greater than the second audio volume.